Dosing apparatuses and methods of the above type are known, for example, from DE 198 51 793 and DE 20 2008 003 498 U1 and are used, in particular, for drying fresh dung from layer houses or fermentation substrates from biogas plants. The drying of such goods is a prerequisite for storing and marketing such goods. Drying tunnels are preferably used for such drying, into which air such as the warm exhaust air from a layer house is fed through fans in a pressure corridor. Several layers of perforated drying belts are arranged above and next to the pressure corridor to allow the exhaust air to flow into the drying tunnel through lateral openings and through the perforations, thus dehydrating and drying the good. Drying can take place within a closed area if the air released by the drying tunnel is to be filtered. This allows for making the drying process largely odorless. A prerequisite for ideal drying is that the belts are loaded as evenly as possible with the good to be dried. To load the drying belts, the good to be dried is normally conveyed via infeed belts to a dosing apparatus which is mostly located at the top level of the drying tunnel. The good is released from the dosing apparatus onto the top drying belt and is then conveyed via the lower levels of the drying tunnel to show an as high as possible dry matter content once it leaves the drying tunnel. The dried good can then be transported further and stored without causing odor problems or, at the least, heavy odor problems.
To load, for example, a drying belt of a drying apparatus, the dosing apparatuses known from prior art have sections that in the presence of a specific mass value of the material located on the section stop the feeding or discharge of the good to thus allow for an even loading of the drying belt. Such dosing apparatuses and methods allow for adapting the dosing to various requirements and realizing a control that will preserve the drives of the conveyor belts. However, there is a need for further improved dosing apparatuses and methods.
One object of the present invention is, thus, to provide a dosing apparatus and method for dosing a good, in particular a good to be dried such as a fermentation substrate or dung, that will allow for improved and/or easier dosing. One particular object of the present invention is to provide a dosing apparatus and method for dosing a good, in particular a good to be dried such as a fermentation substrate or dung, that will allow for particularly even and/or exact dosing.